Chapter X: Actions after Division of Times
(3) To know the excellence of night prayer and to hope for that.
(4) Love for God and strength of faith greatly entourage night- wakefulness, as night prayer is nothing but to hold secret talk with God.
He knows the condition of mind and sees whatever faults the mind has
f;ot. Forviveness is to be sought for these faults to God. When there is ove for God, you will love loneliness without doubt and taste in monazat. This taste will give you encouragement to wake up at night.
This taste should not be removed as wisdom and wise sayings testify it.
The sage Fuzail- b-yeaz said: When the sun sets in, I become glad in darkn ess as I can stay then with my Lord in loneliness. When it rises up, I become sorry at the advent of men to me. A certain learned man said:
"The pleasure which a Sufi gets in Monazat at night can be compared with that in Paradise.
SIX STAGES OF NIGHT-WAKING
(1) To keep awake the whole night. This is the highest rank belonging only to the strong who are always engaged in divine service, those who get taste in monazat to Him., This is the food and life of their souls. For this reason, they feel easy to keep awake for the whole night.
They sleep at day time when the people remain busy in worldly deeds.
This was the practice of some early sages and saints. They used to say morning prayer with the ablution of Isha prayer. Abu Taleb makki narrated this from 4o narrators. Among them, there were Sayyed-b- Musayyeb, Sufyan-b- Solaim, Fuzail-b-Yeaz, Wahab-b-Ward, Taus, Wahab-b-Monabhah, Rabiy-b-Khasem, Hakam, Abu Solaiman Darani, Ali-b-Bakar, Abu Abullah, Abu Asem, Abu Zaber Salman, Malek-b-Dinar, Solaiman Taimi, Eazid Rakkashi, Abu Hazem, Muhammad-b-Munqaderand others.
(2) To keep awake for half the night. Such men were innumerable.
Their habit was to sleep in the first portion out of three portions of night and the last portion out of six portions of night. Their time of prayer was at mid-night and that is better for it.
(3) To keep awake for one third of the night. For this, they used to sleep up to mid night and then in the one sixth portion of the night.
They liked to sleep in the latter part of the night as the slumber of morning is removed by that. Hazrat Ayesha said: I did not see the Prophet but in sleep after Sehri time.
(4) To keep awake in one sixth portion of the night. It is the middle of the later part of the night and before one sixth portion of the night.
(5) Not to observe any time of night for prayer. Such a man keeps awake at the first part of the night till sleep prevails over him. When he wakes up, he prays. When he again feels the urge of sleep, he goes to
264 ZIKR AND INVOCATION Vol-I
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